04-TE-2018_Verbania, Villa San Remigio, J. Negretti (Palma the Younger), Celebration of the Battle of Lepanto

Facilitated description: 

 

The Celebration of the Battle of Lepanto is a large painting on canvas. 
Jacopo Negretti called Palma the Younger made the painting after 1571. 
The painting depicts the battle that took place on October 7, 1571. 
The painting was bigger in the past. The upper part was detached and represented Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit, Saint Justina and angels. 
The painting is destined for Villa San Remigio in Verbania. 
The La Venaria Reale Conservation and Restoration Centre restored the painting in 2018-2020. 
Scientists at the Venaria Center did scientific analysis to see the layer under the paint. 
Scientists saw that the painting of the sky covered the arm of an angel with a palm tree and the foot of an angel. 
These signs are part of the detached part of the picture. 
The restorers transported the painting to the workshops of Venaria by wrapping it on a roller. 
They cleaned the painting from dust, old restoration paintings, and ruined grouting (a layer of plaster and glue that fills the color gaps). 
Afterwards they stopped the parts of color that were peeling off and turned the painting to work on the back part. 
The restorers cleaned the back of the dust. 
They reinforced the lining (reinforcement canvas behind the painting). 
They mounted bands along the edges to mount the painting on the new frame (wooden structure that stands behind the painting and serves to support the painting). 
Then they worked on the front of the painting again. 
They filled the color gaps with putty (plaster and glue). 
They painted the putty. 
They painted the painting to protect it from the sun's rays and dust. 
In the end they cleaned and reinforced the frame. 

 

 

 

 

Abstract of the intervention: 

 

The intervention on the imposing painting on canvas, the Celebration of the Battle of Lepanto of Palma il Giovane, coming from Villa San Remigio in Verbania, provided for the collaboration of various bodies and was carried out thanks to the contribution of the Cassa di Risparmio di Torino Foundation (as part of the 2018 ‘Cantieri diffusi’ call), the Consorzio delle Residenze Reali Sabaude, the Municipality of Verbania and the 5 per thousand funds of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities.
The work was made for the chapel of the Rosary in the church of San Domenico in Brescia and represents the Battle of Lepanto (7 October 1571). In the original conception, the painting provided for an upper register with surrounded divine figures of the Trinity, angels and Saint Justina (celebrated on 7 October) and a lower register, the only one received following the division of the work into two parts. In the lower register are represented the protagonists of the battle arranged in the foreground in groups of three: the three leaders of the Holy League deployed in the center, the three commanders of the fleets arranged right, the three theological virtues, Faith, Hope and Charity, on the left. Between the two registers was represented an angel in flight with the palm and the crown to connect the two scenes. 
Thanks to the scientific analysis and the study of the canvas it emerged in fact the resizing of the work, reduced of the upper part and also resized at the bottom. Following the multispectral analyses, the repaintings of the area of the sky that concealed the arm of the angel carrying the palm tree as a sign of peace and victory and the foot of a putto on the left were removed.

 

Restoration

The painting was dismantled from the frame before being transported to the laboratories of the Centro di Venaria and rolled around a roller. 
The painting was cleaned from surface deposits. The altered retouching, repainting and overflowing grouting were then removed. Subsequently, the velinatura was carried out in view of the operations on the back of the support. The lining was then sucked in, the edges of the painting were consolidated and the lacerations of the canvas were compensated. The painting was then re-tensioned with strip-lining. 
At the level of the pictorial film, after the removal of the velinatura, an aesthetic presentation was performed. Surface imitation plastering and chromatic intonation with watercolor and gouache colors were performed. In addition, in agreement with the protection body, it was decided to remove the grouting at the bottom to carry out an intervention with materials and methods in line with today's restoration. It was then made a fabric insert with imprinting and then integrated with recognizable technique. 
On the pictorial surface has therefore been spread in several occasions a protective added with UV filter. 
In agreement with the protection body it was decided to replace the frame, not being suitable for refunctionalization. The painting was then tensioned on the new frame with a system of springs, suitable to facilitate the sliding of the canvas on the frame.
Finally, cleaning and consolidations were carried out on the frame. 
 

The work is temporarily exhibited at the Reggia di Venaria before being permanently relocated to Villa San Remigio.